


The Strifes

by Fayland



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cloud and Sephiroth are siblings, Cloud is a Good Brother, Fluff and Crack, M/M, POV Outsider, Sephiroth is not, The three remnants are real siblings of Cloud this time, they all live together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24363880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fayland/pseuds/Fayland
Summary: Cloud is the only sane person in his family. All the neighbors agree.
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 10
Kudos: 197





	The Strifes

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [斯特莱夫那一家子](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24381043) by [Fayland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fayland/pseuds/Fayland)



> This fic is in the same universe as the the fanfic sibling war(兄弟战争) posted here: https://kiss3130.lofter.com/post/1e571fd4_1c962eabf

It was a nice day. Sam was watering his flowers on his patio when a young guy walked up to him. 

“Hi, what can I help you with?” Sam paused his task and smiled at the guy.

“Oh, you’re looking around here for housing?”

“Looking for something cheap but still decent? I think Mrs Truffle still has an apartment available. See that little white building down the street?”

“That’s Mrs Truffle’s property. She is a really nice old lady who has been here forever. She charges reasonable rent and keeps everything very tidy. I think you might have some luck there. Why don’t you wait here for her to come back, then ask her? I just saw her taking some dry-cleaning out to the shop.”

“I like this neighborhood. It’s not as fancy as the plate up there, but it’s really convenient and people here are really friendly. I’ve been enjoying my time here.”

“I moved here when Mia was just born and now she’s 5, so this is my fifth year here."

“Yes, of course I can tell you a little bit about our neighborhood. It’s my pleasure. I would like to say that we’re small but complete. We have shops of all kinds down here. Allen’s dry cleaning is just two blocks away. Pepe is the best tailor I’ve ever had, to be honest. He also has a decent jewelry collection, if you ever need to impress your girlfriend I mean. The bar is open daily till 2am. I know it’s nothing compared to Wall Market but they still offer a pretty good variety of drinks. I really like the Wutai restaurant down the street too; I’ve never been to Wutai, but people who have been there have told me that they’re pretty authentic if you care about things like that. And also, we have a market every Saturday down a square that’s five minutes away from here. They sell produce there.”

“Generally speaking it is pretty safe down here. I know, it doesn’t look as organized as up on the plates, but I tell you we haven’t even gotten a burglary in almost six months now.”

“Monsters? We have volunteers for those nasty beasts, they are some tough guys who patrol the whole area once a day and take care of anything larger than a street cat. Plus, there are just not that many around here, probably thanks to the Strife family.”

“The Strife family. Oh my, _where_ should I start…”

“How about Fenrir? You see that heavy motorcycle there? Right behind you. Yes, the flashy one. I knew you would appreciate that. All the boys on this street older than 8 want a motorcycle like that. It is really a beast, isn’t it? Cloud has spent tons of time and Gils on it.”

“Cloud is the owner of that motorcycle, yes. He named it Fenrir, interesting choice of name I would say.”

“He’s not some rough burly guy like his bike would suggest.He’s polite, shy… he’s the kind of person who's really cute but doesn't realize it… stands out in the crowd with his spiky blond hair. It’s like a chocobo tail, really adorable. Mia likes to touch his hair all the time. He’s doing a delivery job for the last couple years, but also does a little bit of everything on the side if the pay is well. I asked him to babysit Mia several times and it all worked out well.”

“I’m sorry do you even want to hear about the neighbors?”

“Yes, it is always good to know a little bit about the neighbors before you move in somewhere. Oh yes, the Strife family. So they moved here about three years ago and Cloud is the second eldest one in the family, and the only blond in the family. Probably the only one who actually uses Strife as their name too. All the mail I’ve seen for the others only have their first name addressed on the envelope.”

“Honestly speaking, at first I thought Cloud was not related to them. You know, natural silver hair is really rare, but the other four brothers all have silver hair, very good looking and very tall. They don’t necessarily look alike but they all give you the same feeling, some undercurrent. However Cloud is totally different, as I told you, polite and shy, doesn’t have much of a presence compared to his brothers. I actually asked him after we got a little bit familiar if he was adopted. The answer was surprisingly no. Maybe it’s just another genetic mystery.”

“Anyway, I would recommend you to keep distance from the other four brothers. They are … very peculiar. The younger three — Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz — are triplets, even though they don’t look alike at all. They’ve been working as mercenaries since they turned 16. My guess is they are pretty good at it, since I’ve never seen them getting injured from missions.”

“Frankly, I don’t like them that much. The way they look is so holier-than-thou. If I have to pick one, I might pick Kadaj. At least he can talk like a normal person when he wants, which means when Cloud is around. He even greeted me with a smile the other day. It sent chills down my spine.That was when he was helping Cloud loading his cargo onto Fenrir. On the other hand though, Loz did ask Mia if she wanted to play some games together the first time they met. Even though the tone sounded off and made me wonder, I would still give credit to him as being a polite boy.”

“ **NO** , of course I didn’t let Mia play with him. Mia was actually scared to tears at the thought. Then Yazoo. Yazoo is generally very quiet. He reminds me of a serpent waiting for its prey to get closer. No, I don’t know how Cloud manages to live with those guys. But one thing everyone on the street knows is that they only pretend to be normal when Cloud is around. They will talk more, show more emotions around Cloud. So if you absolutely need some help from them, hunting monsters or whatever, ask when Cloud is around.”

“Sorry am I boring you too much here? Oh really, you wanna hear more about them?”

“Then there is Sephiroth. If Yazoo were a serpent, Sephiroth would be Leviathan. The good thing about him is that he’s almost never home. Every time he comes home, there is a war in that house. And Cloud would have to fix the place. Turns out even the ones related to him are not fond of him. Especially the younger three.

He can be very unpredictable though. I still remember the day I first met him. It was almost sunset, I was in the house reading and letting Mia play on the patio here. Suddenly I heard some deep voice talking to Mia, so I got out of the house quickly to check on Mia. That’s when I first saw him. He was kneeling down before Mia. He introduced himself as Sephiroth, asking her if there is a ‘Cloud’ living nearby. Mia liked him. Normally she would hide from strangers instead of answering questions, but that time she giggled yes trying to reach for his hair. From his silver hair I assumed that he’s related to the Strifes, so I asked him if he’s Cloud’s family. He stood up—man, he was tall, looming over me. His heavy leather coat just intensified his presence.

‘Yes, I am his big brother. Haven’t been home for a while. How has he been?’ He asked with a genuine smile on his face.

So I told him how Cloud’s delivery business been going etc. He was listening carefully, nodding along at the information and prompting for more occasionally. For a moment, I was glad that Cloud finally had a seemingly normal family member. And that was when Cloud returned from his job.

I called Cloud’s name and got his attention, he was wearing his usual smile when he heard me but when he saw Sephiroth there, boom, the smile vanished. He dashed from Fenrir, in a blink of time he was standing between Sephiroth and us, facing Sephiroth. He looked like there was a wild Behemoth in front of us.

‘Whatever you are trying to do to them. Stop.’ He demanded. I’ve never heard such coldness in Cloud’s voice ever.

Before I could explain to Cloud that Sephiroth here was being nice to us, Sephiroth chuckled ‘I miss you too, Cloud. Are these your new pets now?’ I was aghast at that question but Cloud…Cloud punched him in the face. Despite the blow, Sephiroth looked amused, rubbed his face and commented that he missed that too. Is silver hair some recessive trait of craziness or something?

Anyway, Cloud stiffened up and almost put one hand on the handle of his buster sword. But then he restrained himself and breathed deeply before he spoke up to Sephiroth again. ‘Let’s not do it here, people live here.’ He gestured Mia and I to return home, then sauntered his way to the outskirts of the neighborhood. Sephiroth followed nonchalantly after him. I don’t know when they did come back that night. ”

“That was my first encounter of Sephiroth. ”

“I know, _it’s crazy isn’t it?_ You don’t hear things like that very often. You don’t seem to mind hearing it. You are laughing along. I’m really happy someone finally wants to hear my stories. But things got far more out of hand.”

“The next day I was woken up by some loud noise from next door. I looked out the window just in time to see Kadaj tumbling and falling out of the Strife house. Sephiroth followed him out. For some reason, he was naked from waist above—gorgeous muscles I tell you — He was dragging a ridiculously long katana with him, scraping through the floor. Poor Cloud, he had to redo their flooring after that. 

Once Kadaj got back on his feet again, he swung his Souba at Sephiroth. Their swords clashed into each other. He whispered something to Kadaj with a smirk. Whatever it was Kadaj did not take it well. He jerked back with ‘you bastard’, then went again at Sephiroth—aiming at his throat. Sephiroth dodged easily and his return swing almost chopped Kadaj’s arm off. I was hysterical at how fierce they were. Kadaj was attacking Sephiroth like he was an archenemy instead of a sibling. On the other hand, Sephiroth was obviously way stronger than Kadaj, which is horrifying to think about, because Kadaj is already the strongest guy in the neighborhood. Sephiroth was almost toying with Kadaj as if he wasn’t worth his effort. He didn’t even sweat. 

They went back and forth like that for a couple more rounds, that cost me a couple flower pots. Then, quickly, Sephiroth seemed to grow bored of fighting. With one swing, he sent Kadaj’s Souba flying away. It landed about 20 feet away. Kadaj was definitely insulted by that and bolted at Sephiroth with his barehands but just got kicked and collapsed to the ground. Sephiroth stood there, glancing at his sword and Kadaj, pondering at some choices, and then raised his blade. I was convinced he was going to kill Kadaj.”

“I know, what kind of _siblings_ would do that?”

“But before he could, someone showed up and kicked him hard in the waist. He stumbled, turned around and saw who it was. It was Cloud…who…seemed to be wearing nothing but an oversized shirt, long enough to cover his thighs. His hair was even messier than normal and his face was flushed — maybe from dashing out of the house to intervene. 

Cloud shouted ‘What are you doing! Sephiroth, they’re just kids!’ at Sephiroth, standing barefoot in front of Kadaj, defensively opening his arms, protecting him from Sephiroth. Meanwhile Kadaj stood back up and gave Sephiroth a look, like he’s the winner of this fight. 

Sephiroth’s mouth twitched, like trying to argue something but then he just lowered his sword. 

‘If you’ve got too much energy, just go bust into monster nests, don’t take it out on the kids.’ I guess Sephiroth’s little gesture pleased him, because Cloud’s tone softened. ‘Now, can we just go back inside and have some breakfast?’

I’m not sure if Sephiroth agreed to it or not because the next second, he just stepped closer to Cloud and carried him on his shoulder with his free hand, fireman style. Cloud struggled and yelled to Sephiroth to let him down. Instead of doing that, Sephiroth patted his hip and responded ‘you are gonna hurt your feet.’ That miraculously stopped all of Cloud’s struggling and he just carried Cloud to their house like that…

The day after, Cloud replaced my flower pots and brought me a cookie box for apologizing for all the commotion that happened. As I said, he’s a very polite boy.”

“Oh hey, look who’s back. Hey Cloud!” 

“This is Cloud and this is, sorry what was your name again? …Reno. Yes, Reno here is looking for some place to settle in and I’m just introducing him about the neighborhood.”


End file.
